


You, the Moon, and Neptune

by uhpockuhlipz



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, and both of my children are lonely and sad, lena is very gay, please help them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 15:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9614354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uhpockuhlipz/pseuds/uhpockuhlipz
Summary: Lena pays Kara a visit, not realizing it's Kara's birthday. Takes place during the events of 2x11 because apparently I can't resist adding Karlena scenes to every episode.





	

Kara opens the door mid-laugh. There’s a smear of frosting on her upper lip that she’s licking away when she notices Lena. The laughter fades, but the warmth doesn’t disappear. She’s still smiling when she sees who it is, though there’s surprise just there behind the joy. Lena offers a tentative smile, fingers curling and uncurling inside the pockets of her long jacket.

 

“Lena, hi,” she says, and there’s that surprise still, but it at least seems to be a pleasant surprise. Kara’s eyes are flickering between her own and Lena feels herself grow just a touch uncomfortable, awkward in her own skin, fidgety in a way she thought she’d grown out of. Kara has that effect on her. And it’s not bad, it’s just not… good. Which doesn’t make sense at all, she thinks as she stares right back at Kara, drinking her in. She’s so beautiful with her hair falling over her shoulder in a spiraling tail, her eyes bright without her glasses shielding them.

 

(The shirt. Oh god, the shirt. It’s almost too much.

 

Lena wants to curl her fingers into it, wants to press herself close. She wants Kara to wrap her up in the warmest of hugs and whisper comforting words to her, though Lena doesn’t even know why she would need comforting. She wants Kara to invite her inside and stroke her hair and tell her that she means something.

 

She wants too much, probably.)

 

“Hello, Kara,” Lena murmurs before her eyes shift and focus over Kara’s shoulder, honing in immediately on Alex Danvers where she sits at a bar stool just behind her. Unlike the first time Lena had found herself in this situation, there is no shocking sting of jealousy, and she’s able to nod her recognition in Alex’s direction. Alex gives her a tight-lipped smile and a slight wave in return before she forks up a bite of cupcake from the plate in front of her. “I’m sorry, is this a bad time?”

 

“Oh. Uh. No, not really. We were just...” Kara waves vaguely, her fingers lifting up to her face where they brush across the bridge of her nose. The corners of Lena’s lips tilt up. She is endeared by the simple gesture of Kara trying to push up glasses that aren’t there.

 

Kara doesn’t seem to find it nearly as sweet. Her eyes go wide and she turns sharply away from Lena, making a beeline for the coffee table where she’d left her glasses. Lena and Alex both watch her as she hurriedly shoves them on her face and then whirls back around, smile forced just a bit brighter as she crosses back to them. Lena watches as the sisters exchange a look before Alex just rolls her eyes. It’s baffling to her. Even when she and Lex were close, it was never quite so… normal. There had always been a certain edge to all of her relationships with the Luthors and she doesn’t see that here.

 

The Danvers sisters are soft together, even when the exasperation shines through, and Lena wonders if it was always like this or if the sharp edges of childhood simply smoothed out with the time she and Lex hadn’t been afforded.

 

“Want some of this?” Alex asks, jabbing a fork at Lena. “If you do, grab it now before Kara inhales the rest.”

 

“Hey. It’s not my fault _somebody_ only brought one cupcake,” Kara mumbles, but the smile she gives Lena is soft and careful. “Come in, Lena. You’re not interrupting, I promise.” She’s already rummaging in a kitchen drawer and snagging an extra fork, which she brandishes handle-first at an uncertain and fairly reluctant Lena.

 

“Oh, really, I don’t want to intrude,” she says, but Kara presses the fork into her hand and then snags her wrist, tugging her gently closer to the table. She looks doubtfully down at the single halved cupcake, notes the little ‘K’ deposited off to the side beside a single red candle. It takes a moment, but she puts it together quickly enough and her eyes fly up to find familiar blue. “It’s your birthday?”

 

“I...” Kara looks to Alex and back to Lena. “Yes.” And Lena wonders why the answer seems almost like a question, but she doesn’t ask.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t think to… I should go.”

 

“No.” Kara speaks a bit too quickly and her fingers are around Lena’s wrist again. The movement is so fast that it seems to catch them both by surprise and when Lena looks up from that careful grip, her eyes catch on Kara’s. And suddenly her heart is racing in that not-quite-comfortable way that’s not bad but not good and Kara’s head is tilting slightly, her lips parting on a soft _oh_ like she can hear it (which is foolish, impossible, she must just notice the way Lena’s pulse is rushing beneath her fingers) and-

 

A chair scrapes back and they jolt apart, both of them looking towards Alex where she’s looking between them (thoughtfully? Bemusedly? Lena isn’t quite sure how to read her expression) as she grabs her coat and purse from the dining table. “I’m gonna head out, Kara, okay?” she asks, and there’s a pause like she genuinely cares what Kara’s answer is, like she’ll actually stay if Kara tells her to, and it makes Lena’s chest ache. She looks away because she almost can’t stand it, the genuine affection, using the fork in her hand and the cupcake in front of her as an excuse to give the pair a modicum of privacy.

 

“Okay,” Kara says, her voice soft. Lena feels her shuffle around her side to reach her sister. They must hug or something – Lena still doesn’t look up to see – and then Alex is calling out a quick, “Later, Luthor,” and suddenly they’re alone.

 

She’s alone with Kara and it’s her birthday and Lena has just run off her sister and she feels awful.

 

“I’m sorry,” she says again as Kara rejoins her. “Alex shouldn’t be leaving, I should. Your sister should be with you for your birthday.”

 

“Lena, it’s okay.” She reaches out and covers Lena’s hand with her own, then just as quickly withdraws, her head ducking as she plucks up her own fork and swirls it through yellow frosting. “We were just talking about… stuff.”

 

“Stuff,” Lena echoes, amused. She finally takes an actual bite of the cupcake, humming to herself because it’s _good._ Really good. She can’t remember the last time she’d had cake of any kind. She looks up in time to see Kara crinkle her nose at whatever thought is in her head, watching as she nods.

 

“Yeah, stuff. This guy.”

 

“Oh.” Her stomach drops, but she makes damned well sure it doesn’t show, watching Kara to try and ascertain what she’s thinking. “What about him?”

 

“Well...” Kara chews her lip for a moment and there’s a frown beneath the thought. Lena watches her set down the fork before even fully finishing what’s left of the cupcake, fingers cupping her chin as she leans on her elbow. She looks far lost now, swimming galaxies and galaxies away even as Lena watches. “It’s complicated,” she mumbles. “He’s… he says he likes me and Alex thinks maybe I should, I don’t know, look closer at my feelings for him. And he’s such a sweet guy, Lena.” Kara looks up, blue eyes catching on green, almost pleading with her to listen. So Lena does, carefully setting her own fork down as she leans closer and ignores the weight in her chest. “He really is. He’s funny and nice and he… he pays attention to me. He wants me around.”

 

Lena tilts her head, nodding slightly to show she’s listening, that she’s understanding.

 

( _Who wouldn’t, Kara?_ she thinks. _Who wouldn’t want to be around you?_ )

 

“Everything’s been so weird lately,” Kara continues, mumbling now as she sinks lower, her arms folding across the table with her chin resting on top of them. “Alex has a girlfriend she’s spending all her time with. And that’s great, that’s good. She should. It’s… I’m really happy for her. But… Cat left and James is mad at me and Winn’s on his side and I’m just… Mo- Mike’s still there. He sees me.”

 

“I see you, Kara.”

 

She doesn’t mean to speak, but the words slip out of her unchecked and she only inhales sharply when they do. She doesn’t bother trying to retract them or qualify them. She simply looks back into the blue eyes now locked on hers. The only thing giving away her uncertainty is the unsteady staccato of her heart. “You’re strong and capable and smart and very sweet. Probably sweeter than I deserve, to be honest.” Lena offers a half smile. “You give chances to people no one else would think to give chances to.” She pauses, her eyes shifting between Kara’s. “And your eyes are sad. Why are you so sad?”

 

Kara is silent, staring back at her for a long, dragging moment. Lena lets her, doesn’t push or demand more. She waits because she is certain Kara is searching for something, though she doesn’t know what.

 

“What… what are you thinking, when you look at me right now?” She asks it carefully, her voice pitched low, her fingers tracing across the table’s surface. “Besides thinking I look sad, I mean.”

 

Lena isn’t sure what answer Kara wants and she hesitates. For once it isn’t easy to read Kara, and Lena wonders if it ever really is or if Kara lets her see only what she wants her to see. So instead of trying to figure out what it is she’s expecting from her, she answers honestly.

 

“That I wish I could do something to make the sadness go away. You carry so much, Kara. That’s so much weight to bear, even for one person. Not even Supergirl could carry what you do all alone.” This time it’s Lena who reaches out, albeit hesitantly, her hand slipping over Kara’s. “I know how it feels,” she murmurs, “To feel so lonely, even when you’re surrounded by dozens of people. It makes you feel heavy. But… Please don’t feel like you ever have to endure it alone. I hope I can be a good friend to you, one who helps to… I don’t know. Alleviate some of that burden.”

 

Kara considers her another moment. “Do you think my eyes look like comets when I’m sad?” she asks.

 

The question has Lena letting out a surprised laugh. “Excuse me?”

 

“It’s just… something someone said. Indulge me?”

 

Lena blows out a quiet breath. “I mean… your eyes go very blue when you’re sad, very deep. Like they are now. So yes, I suppose you could compare them to comets. Lost, fleeting, falling. They’re beautiful, your eyes are always beautiful.” Her shoulders lift and fall, dismissing the notion. “But It’s when you’re happy that they’re the brightest, when they’re more than just… I don’t know, falling space junk.”

 

It’s Kara who laughs this time, soft and sweet, and it makes Lena smile.

 

“You have galaxies in you, Kara Danvers. Thousands and thousands of stars, and those burn brighter and longer than any comet ever could. I hope you know that.”

 

Kara turns her hand over beneath Lena’s and laces their fingers, squeezing gently. And her eyes… Oh, her eyes burn with constellations and Lena thinks, _I was wrong._ Because there are more than galaxies in her eyes.

 

There are entire _universes,_ vast and full of endless possibility.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, hit me up on tumblr @ proudlyunicorn (:


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